Wales Women were defeated 29-15 in their final autumn Test against the Barbarians, despite showing signs of a successful comeback.

The Barbarians produced a dominant first-half performance and were first on the score sheet with Charmaine McMenamin diving over the line for the try just after kick-off.

Wales women barely left their own half in the opening 40 minutes, allowing the visitors to score a further four tries.

Lauren Harris, Jenny Murphy, Anna Caplice and former Wales full-back Dyddgu Hywel all crossed the line for the Barbarians. Hywel came out of retirement to face her former side and marked the occasion by scoring a superb individual try.

It was the first meeting between the two sides in the women’s game. Not only that, but it was a historic occasion for the Welsh Rugby Union as it was the first time a double header with such a short turnaround had taken place at the Principality Stadium.

In the absence of head coach Rowland Phillips, 14 players were given their debuts by Chris Horseman.

Despite their loss the stand-in Wales coach remains optimistic about the future.

He said: “We made a few defensive errors in the first half, I think we didn’t back ourselves enough and conceded tries. The one at kick-off was a soft try and I think it went multi-phase which was my message to the girls at half-time.

“I told them that we had to execute in two or three phrases both sides of the ball, and that we had to have confidence in our line speed to shut them down in two phases and force some errors, which we did.

“It was good tactical awareness in the second half that earned us those three tries.

“It was a massive occasion against a team made up of some of the best players in the world, but it shows with a young group and blooded strength in depth that we can certainly compete with the best in the world.

“It was fantastic as the game went on to see supporters come in and get behind the girls.

“It was great for them and hopefully at the end of the match they saw what we were about.”

Wales women came out firing in the second half and produced a strong performance to break down the Barbarians.

Their hard work and patience paid off as Lisa Neuman, Keira Bevan and Alex Callender crossed over the line to bring the score to 15-29.

In front of a crowd of more than 12,600 fans, Wales women left it to the last minute to try and overturn the visitors, but it wasn’t to be.

So, Wales women ended their autumn campaign with three wins out of five, and despite the loss they showed what they are capable of throughout the campaign.

Wales captain Siwian Lilicrap said: “I think we showed a lot of character and belief today especially in the second half as we showed some great attacking play.

“What is exciting is that if we did that for the full 80 minutes, we would be very dangerous.

“Whenever we play, we want to go out and do the jersey and nation proud. In my eyes this campaign has been nothing but successful, to put on the Welsh jersey and play in this stadium alongside friends and family is an honour and it was a special moment for me and one that I will treasure for the rest of my life.

“As soon as the crowd came in with that roar to get behind us, it felt like there was another player on the pitch and that goes a long way. Today, we wanted to create memories and put a stamp on what we are about. In that second half, we did that.

“I am absolutely proud of every single girl who wore that jersey today and played on that field. But now we have got to keep going forward, we can’t just stand still now.”

Recent Posts

Ashton Hewitt has thanked those who have supported his backing for the Black Lives matter campaign and the revelations over his own experiences of racism in Wales. The Dragons wing – who was called up to train with Wales during this season’s Six Nations – gave a revealing account of his encounters with police as a black rugby player. His interview with the South Wales Argus and other media led to a huge reaction and also provoked debate with fellow former Dragons star Andrew Coombs, who accused protestors in London of violence towards the police.

Robert Jones cherishes each one of his 54 Wales and three British and Irish Lions caps. But the proud son of Trebanos says that Swansea’s 1992 triumph over then World Cup holders Australia means more to him than his victories in a red jersey. The scrum-half played 286 times for the Whites between 1983 and 2002, and was wearing the No.9 shirt when the Wallabies paid a visit to St Helen’s on 4 November 1992. The match will be re-lived on S4C’s Clwb Rygbi, at 6.15pm on Saturday 6 June, and will also be available to watch on S4C Clic and BBC iPlayer after broadcast.

Elite sport is slowly returning. Some, like professional football, are preparing to resume competition, but for most it’s about small steps to resume training. But while some sports get on to their starting blocks, others are still waiting outside the stadium – and there is also a difference between Wales and England, as Sport Wales CEO Brian Davies tells Graham Thomas. Sport Wales acting chief executive Brian Davies insists the country’s top athletes will not get left behind their rivals in the race to be ready again for major competitions. Welsh elite athletes in all sports are still waiting for a green light to resume training as some of the lockdown restrictions start to ease across other parts of the UK.

Canadian centre Stephen Dixon is Cardiff Devils’ third import signing for the 2020-21 Elite League ice hockey season. Dixon followed captain Joey Martin and Joey Haddad in committing to the Devils again and there will be more player announcements over the next few weeks. “I’ve enjoyed my time in Cardiff,” said the man from Halifax in Nova Scotia. “Devils are a quality organisation from top to bottom. We have a great group of guys and great fans.”

It was the game that rescued the career of Shane Williams – Wales v New Zealand in the pool stages of the 2003 World Cup. Before the tournament, it looked as if the player who would go on to become Wales’ greatest try-scorer might not even make the plane. He did – just – as a utility third scrum-half and back-up wing.
Tonight, 17 years on, the game is being replayed and re-assessed on S4C where Williams watches the 53-37 defeat for the first time since that day in Sydney . . .